By Well, as you know, I LOVE Helena de Groot and Poetry Off the Shelf. She is such an intuitive and honest interviewer and always, always brings out the best in the poets she speaks with. This episode is exceptional. As if often the case, I was not familiar with the writer but now I cannot wait for his book to come out. Their talk touches on everything – family and how we make it, love, language, grief and how we process it – and I cannot recommend it enough. I cried. I smiled. I giggled, I laughed out loud. I listened to it whilst cleaning the remnants of two days in the kitchen and Thanksgiving dinner, something that always connects me to my history, my ancestors. That may have magnified the effect of their conversation. It is lengthier than some of her broadcasts but so, so worth your time.
Go for it. Put in your earbuds and stream it on your phone while you commute or tackle a mindless project you have been putting off. I believe you will be glad that you did.
Open Arts Spring 2023 
We must be riding a cosmic wave as I listened to this podcast earlier in the morning — such a good one, JNaz – thank you for bringing this here. The disclaimer about suicide is relevant here– please take care of yourselves. ❤
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I love riding that wave with you, borkali…
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Steven Espada Dawson. Remember this name. Love the three poems he reads. Loved it when he said near the beginning of the conversation that he and his mother were “holding hands, learning to be people.” Thanks, JNaz, for accelerating my getting to this.
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You can find more on his website: https://www.stevenespadadawson.com/writing
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I just listened to this interview. Steven Espada Dawson’s personal story, the foundation of his poetry, is so powerful. He has lived a long life in a relatively few number of years. I loved the questions posed and the answers given in the interview. The conversation moved me to explore more of his poetry online. Meeting him virtually definitely deepened my experience of reading/hearing his poems.
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